Crossroads And Street Signs
by CeeCeeCollide
Summary: After the war Narcissa and Draco Malfoy are sent to live as Muggles, but when a law is rewritten requiring all those who were banished to the muggle world to return, it becomes Harry's job, as the main witness of their trial, to bring them back to the wizarding world for a new sentence.
1. Chapter 1

Harry stared around the courtroom, his eyes drifting in and out of focus as his sleep-deprivation slowly caught up with him. He hadn't realised how much working nights could take it out of him, but he wasn't going to miss this trial, not when it was his word that would save the three people who were currently on trial to receive the Dementor's Kiss.

Hermione nudged him in the ribs, causing Harry to let out a sudden, loud yawn. "Pay attention!" whispered Hermione pointedly as a few of the other witness bearers glanced disgruntledly in his direction.

Harry nodded, as Kingsley took his place to deliver the verdict. As the silence fell over the courtroom Harry finally let his eyes drop to the three prisoners before them, the Malfoys.

The stark contrast between what Harry remembered of seeing the family together and the picture they painted now meant that they were almost unrecognisable. The usually clean and proper family looked dishevelled and disgraced to the point where Harry had had to do a double take when they brought into the courtroom.

Narcissa, who to some represented the epitome of beauty, now looked as though her features were carved from stone. The gaunt, expressionless appearance she held didn't do anything to help the matter and it was clear Azkaban hadn't agreed with her.

Lucius, whose primp and proper appearance which had previously earnt him admirers from his female co-workers, was now in upheaval and the deep lines which had cratered his face only turned to emphasise what now appeared to be a permanent frown.

Harry stiffened, he didn't want to examine his old school rival, but Draco's appearance seemed to have suffered the most, so much more so than his parents that he appeared to have aged ten years, whilst it had only been one.

The Malfoys were the last trial to be had of the war, and it was always the most publicised. The family had always been in the spotlight, whether it was for the triumphantly rich and obscure Balls they had held at their mansion or the way Lucius had seemed determined to overshadow everybody else in the Ministry.

Kingsley cleared his throat as he looked down the three prisoners; no expression in his face or eyes, only the slight tremble in his hands as he prepared to deliver the verdict gave away the fact that he was anxious to have it over with. He would be happy once the publicity of these events were over.

Harry held his breath, hoping that his testimony would save them from the Dementor's kiss.

"Lucius Malfoy, from the charges brought before this court and the testimony given you will be sentenced to life in Azkaban. Naricssa Malfoy, from the charges brought before this court and the testimony given you will be sentenced to live as a Muggle, your fortune liquidated for Ministerial use and your magic bound. Draco Malfoy, from the charges brought before this court and the testimony given you will be sentenced to live as a Muggle, your fortune liquidated for Ministerial use and your magic bound."

Hushed murmurs echoed around the room as the verdicts sunk in. Harry breath a sigh of a relief as Hermione's shoulder fell into his, signalling her relief of the situation.

Protests rose up quickly but the words melded into one in the huge, echoing courtroom. Harry watched as Lucius's head bowed down, while Narcissa took a longing look at her husband as he sat in his defeat. Draco didn't move, his eyes locked on the same piece of furniture that they had been since when he'd first entered the room.

Kingsley silenced the protests, as Hermione, yet again, elbowed Harry in the ribs. "It's time to go Harry," she whispered as she stood up and began pulling him away.

Harry let himself be taken from the courtroom, his mind reeling as he considered the verdicts. _Life as Muggles, they wouldn't know how,_ thought Harry to himself. He had expected more.

He knew they wouldn't have gotten off scott-free, but sentencing them to life as Muggles was practically a death sentence in and of itself. The Malfoys may have been involved in the war, but they had walked away at the opportune moment. They had given freely of their money to help relief efforts, that was, before they had been arrested.

Harry shook his head, his eyes taking one last look before being dragged from the courtroom. Draco Malfoy's gaze had shifted, was now squarely aimed at him. Harry stared back at his former rival, completely unsure of the expression on his face, but Harry knew enough of desperation to read Draco's face with ease.

Draco Malfoy knew that this was his own-brand of death sentence.

**Ten Years Later…**

Harry stared at the paperwork that was swaying precariously on his desk as his assistant, Julianna carefully placed another case file on top.

"You know, you just could've left it on your desk Julianna," stated Harry as the stack of paperwork came to a standstill yet again. Sighing he put his head in his hands, letting out a small groan, if he had known being an Auror entailed this much paperwork he would have taken the job as a teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. Harry wondered if it was too late to reconsider that request.

"Sorry Harry, you know I would help but I'm not yet qualified," replied Julianna with sincerity, giving Harry's head a small pat before she made her way out of the room, only turning back quickly to remind him of his meeting, "Oh, and Kingsley's here to see you as well."

"Send him in," said Harry mournfully, pulling his head back up as the Minister of Magic took a seat in his tiny office. "Please don't tell me you want me to do something," stated Harry as Kingsley gave him that look which clearly meant he did.

"Sorry Potter, but this needs to be done," replied Kingsley shortly, apparently unhappy with the assignment he was about to give Harry.

"What is it then?" questioned Harry shortly.

"We need you to go and assess some of the prisoners we let free as Muggles from the War Trials," stated Kingsley, not looking Harry directly in the face.

"Who exactly do you want me to assess?" asked Harry, knowing full well what the answer was going to be. He knew this day would come but he hadn't expected it to come so soon, and he definitely hadn't expected that it would be his job to do it.

"Narcissa and Draco Malfoy," stated Kingsley, finally looking Harry in the eye.

"I should've known you wouldn't be giving me good news," replied Harry.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry sat at the bar, the Firewhisky in his hand seemed to make the day seem as if it had never existed, and that was the one thing that Harry needed most.

The gentle 'dong' as the door of the Pub swung open caused Harry to raise his head slightly, the familiar forms of Hermione and Ron filling his vision. Harry almost laughed at the disgruntled appearance on Ron's face, he had obviously been out in the field all day, and by Harry's guess, hadn't captured the assailant he had been after.

Hermione as she caught Harry's eye, dragging Ron by the arm with her. Sometimes Harry swore that they hadn't changed since Hogwarts, but the fact that Hermione now had a fairly evident bump, which she had yet to explain away, and a glistening wedding ring showed just how much time had passed. Ron smiled tiredly as they reached Harry, giving him an almighty thump on the back Ron took a seat beside him, "So, rough day at the office I see," teased Ron.

"You would know if you bothered to come in and do some of your paperwork," teased Harry back, causing a brief shove from Ron. Hermione sighed as they waited for the barkeep to approach them. Jeremy, the barkeep of the particular muggle Pub that Harry had invited them too, was always swarmed with female attention and Harry had to admit, he could see why this was the most densely female-populated Pub in the small non-descript town.

"So Harry, why did you drag us all the way to God-knows-where just for a dinner?" questioned Hermione as she finally caught Jeremy's attention. Jeremy sauntered over with a swagger reminiscent of one Draco Malfoy, the particular man whom Harry's mind had been overwhelmed with since his meeting with Kingsley.

"Table for three," stated Harry, giving Jeremy a brief smile to which Jeremy quickly bowed his head embarrassingly.

"Sure thing Harry," replied Jeremy, as soon the women whom he had just left began to whistle in his direction, "And are you sure you couldn't put a spell on them to make them leave me alone?" asked Jeremy tiredly as he rolled his eyes in the direction of the hounding women.

"Unfortunately no," replied Harry shortly as Jeremy gave a short bow of his head, sighing. Ron and Hermione turned to look at Harry, confusion filling their faces, quickly eliminated by the realisation that Harry was apparently talking to muggle about magic.

Harry laughed, the look of shock on Ron and Hermione's faces at the fact that Jeremy knew of magic was highly comical, but Hermione's sharp look quickly returned as she gave a quick look between Harry and Jeremy, choosing to ignore the question that Jeremy posed, she herself posed her own again.

"Harry, why are we here?" questioned Hermione more sharply as Jeremy seated them without another word, his discomfort obvious as he realised he probably shouldn't have said anything in front of Harry's friends. Harry fumbled slightly as he sat down, his Firewhisky hitting the table a little harder than he had meant to.

"I had a meeting with Kingsley today," replied Harry vaguely, scratching at the table. This was a subject he didn't really want to discuss but he knew that it was inevitable as it was the reason he had invited them here in the first place.

"And…" added Ron, giving Harry a curious look, waiting for his friend to continue the explanation.

"This doesn't have anything to do with the Malfoys does it?" asked Hermione causing Harry to look up in surprise at his friend.

"How would you know?" questioned Harry warily, he had thought Kingsley would have only spoken to him about the matter.

"I was the one who re-wrote that law, so I naturally presumed that the Ministry would want to re-locate all of the two people who have, to our knowledge, been convicted with this sentencing and are still alive," replied Hermione matter-of-factly.

Harry let out a short laugh, "How do we know they're still alive?" said Harry. This was the question that had been plaguing his mind ever since his meeting. He remembered thinking that they wouldn't survive in the muggle world; not only had they had no foothold there, but they had no knowledge, no expertise and no money whatsoever. If a muggle couldn't survive without those things in their own world, how was a wizard or witch meant to?

"Well the Ministry was keeping tabs on them," replied Hermione.

Ron, all the while, had been pondering the odd-group of females that were congregated around the bar, still vying for the attention to Jeremy as he slowly made his way over with a pen and notepad in hand, ready to take their order.

"So, what are we having tonight?" asked Jeremy giving the group a small smile which only Harry returned.

Hermione set her mouth agape as she tried to find a menu somewhere, Ron instead let out the first thing that came into his head, "How about a steak?"

"A steak it is then, and Harry will have the lasagne," stated Jeremy as he started to scribble on his notepad, "And you?"

Hermione thought for a minute, obviously unsure of what she could even order, "Lasagne as well," stated Hermione, still obviously confused about the method of having no menu would make it easier for people to order, or for Jeremy to know what people could or would order for that fact.

"Rightio, and drinks?" he asked, putting his notepad in his back pocket and giving the group another small smile.

"Two fire whiskeys and a lemonade," stated Harry, giving Jeremy a curt nod.

"Be right back then," finished Jeremy, grabbing Harry's empty Firewhisky bottle off of the table.

"Harry, you never finished what you were going to tell us, and by the way, would you mind informing us how an apparently muggle knows about magic as well, or that you can use it?" questioned Hermione, obviously growing tired of the vague, roundabout conversation.

"I have to go and find them…" trailed Harry, "The Malfoys I mean. That's my next assignment. They've given me an address of where Draco Malfoy was last seen but that's it, that's all I've got, and the address is three years old as it is, and Jeremy?" continued Harry as the watched the man grab their drinks, still trying to ignore the female attention, "He knows about magic because his brother is a wizard. Went to Durmstrang I believe, but for someone who's meant to be a muggle he has a very strong intuition about these things," finished Harry.

"Here we go," said Jeremy as he put the drinks down in front of the group, "You sure you can't help me with my problem?" he posed to Harry again, causing yet another short laugh from the dark-haired man.

"I've told you Jeremy, I can't help you with that, you're just going to have to learn to live with their infatuation!" teased Harry as Jeremy gave another short sigh and returned to the bar where some of the women were now sitting.

Ron's eyes were still glazed over at the sight of so many barely-clothed women who were practically throwing themselves across the bar, but his attention soon returned to his wife and friend after a swift kick from Harry under the table; however his wife had failed to notice his diversion of attention as she stared at Harry.

"So you're going to take the assignment then," stated Hermione, her brow creasing as she looked at Harry.

Harry drew the Firewhisky closer to him and took a swig of it swiftly, the familiar feel of the fire burning down his throat was welcome, "Well I don't really have much of a choice Mione, what was I meant to do, disregard the Minister of Magic?" asked Harry, raising an eyebrows in Hermione's direction, "Anyway, it means I'm out of the office for a few months at least, and that means Ron can be in the office and finishing up some of my paperwork."

Ron choked on his Firewhisky slightly before turning to his friend, "Sorry mate, that paperwork is all for you, isn't nothing I can do about it, those are your cases."

"So what are you meant to do when you find them?" questioned Hermione, taking a small sip of the lemonade. Harry had guessed it was a more satisfactory option than a Butter Beer or Firewhisky, even though Hermione hadn't yet verbalised the pregnancy, the fact that she hadn't shot Harry back upon him ordering the lemonade was proof enough for him.

"Bring them back for a new sentencing. Kingsley said they have a new way to deal with people who would have otherwise had that sentencing," stated Harry tensely. The conversation was still so vivid in his head that he didn't really want to tell Hermione what Kingsley believed the new sentencing would be, it even made Harry's stomach revolt at the thought.

"So what will they do with them then? With the new sentencing?" asked Ron, as he took another drink of the Firewhisky, his brow creasing in a way that slightly Hermione-ish; something that must have rubbed off after all the years they'd had together.

"They new sentencing would be that they'd be allowed within the magical community, but they will have all their magic stripped, and if any magical children are born through the, they'll have their magic stripped as well," replied Harry, his face screwing up at the words.

"They're going to take away all of their magic?" said Hermione with wide eyes, her eyebrows having disappeared into her hair.

"Yep, they're going to basically erase the aristocratic, pureblood, magically bloodline of the Malfoys," replied Harry, a joint look of shock being shared between him and his three friends.

Harry, personally, could think of no worse punishment than that.


	3. Chapter 3

Draco stared at the clock, its second hand slowly ticking by, closer and closer to the mark of 12. Waiting, the few last seconds holding his breath, he let it out slowly as the hands clicked over into a new day.

"Happy Birthday Draco Malfoy," he whispered to himself in the darkness, silently reaching behind him to grab the small, wrapped present that his boss had presented him with after Draco had told him that he never celebrated his birthday anymore. Hesitating slightly, Draco pulled the ribbon from the package, letting it unfurl itself into his lap.

The wrapping paper of the present inferred that his boss had let his new son wrap it, the small little cars overlapped where the paper had been stuck down.

Pulling at the wrapping paper, Draco let the same little charm drop out. The miniature silver dragon felt heavy in his hand as he rolled it over and over. It was the first present he had received since being evicted from the wizarding world.

Smiling, he removed the rest of the package to find a small-linked silver chain fall out as well. Throwing the wrapping paper and ribbon onto the floor, Draco opened the curtains to let some of the moonlight in as his fingers fumbled with the catch of the chain.

Finally getting it unlatched Draco threaded the small dragon onto the chain, smiling to himself as he clasped it around his neck. It hung low, just sitting on his chest and as he lay down he watched as the tiny little dragon rose up and down with the slow, tired beating of his heart.

As he closed his eyes and encouraged sleep to envelop him he reminded himself of the things that he needed to do tomorrow. It was just one of the three days off he had a year, and he planned to finally get some of the things that needed to be done, sorted out.

"First stop, real estate agent," murmured Draco as he rolled over, crunching himself up his side and letting his eyes take one last look before drifting off, the view of his parents filling his vision…

* * *

Harry sighed as the parchment slowly came to rest on his desk, the final piece before he took a three-month assignment in the hopes of finding the two Malfoys.

A bright flashing post-it note was attached with the words 'Sign Here' in regal cursive, Kingsleys unmistakable writing. Again, Harry wondered why he, as he Minister of Magic, was taking such an active role in this case.

Shrugging, Harry signed his life away again for a cross-country mission. Just as he was about the send the document flying away again Hermione entered the room, Ron dragging his feet behind her as Julianna peaked over their shoulders. Harry silently wondered what she would be doing whilst he was away.

"So you've signed it then," stated Hermione, as if the fact needed to be iterated for everyone to know. Harry gave a brief half smile as he sent it on its way.

"What else was I supposed to do?" questioned Harry with raised eyebrows. He had already known, though the deliberation had been a week long, that he would sign for the assignment. He was the one who had stood up as a witness for them in the courtroom; it was only natural that it would be his job to bring them back upon appeal.

"So ahh, when do you leave?" asked Ron, taking a seat in one of the many chairs that seemed to have made their way into Harry's office over the past week.

"Tomorrow," said Harry shortly. He was already packed and everything had been set up. Hermione would drop by to check on his place whilst he was away and Ron was taking on any outstanding cases he had; personally Harry had thought it would have been better to give them to someone else considering that Ron was the second most in-demand Auror but Kingsley had insisted on it.

"We're going to miss you Harry," said Hermione with a small smile, her hand subconsciously rubbing her burgeoning stomach.

"It's only going to be three months Mione," stated Ron behind them, giving a huge yawn considering it was only three o'clock in the afternoon.

"I know, I know," shot back Hermione, "But still, how different is it going to be for you Ronald, who are you going to have lunch with?" Ron's face fell flat a bit as he realised that Harry would indeed, not be there to have lunch with on the daily basis as he was used to.

"I'll survive," replied Ron, indignation colouring his face slightly.

Just as he thought Hermione was about to retort back Julianna poked her face around the doorframe and hesitantly spoke, "Ahh, Harry, Kingsley's here to see you."

Harry got up from his chair before he spoke, "Send him in Julianna," he replied as he removed himself from behind his desk. Giving Hermione a quick hug, he whispered cheekily in her ear, "Oh and congratulations on the baby too."

Harry pulled away as a look of shock overtook Hermione's features for a brief second before it was wiped back to its natural expression, "Damn you, Harry Potter," she retorted good-naturedly.

Ron slowly removed himself from his chair, giving Harry a slap on the shoulder, "I guess we'll see you in three months then, dragging some Malfoys along behind you." Harry laughed, giving Ron a brief shove causing Hermione to shake her head at the grown men.

"Now, I'd say that's enough roughhousing , and aren't you two meant to be respectable Aurors?" questioned Kingsley as he walked in on the end of the encounter, one eyebrow raised in humour at the two grown men acting like children.

"Alright, I'll see you in three months," said Harry as both Hermione and Ron exited the room, giving Kingsley a swift smile, "And as for that statement, what ever happened to boys will be boys?" replied Harry, knowing that the only reason he would get away with such joking was because he knew the Minister needed him to personally do this assignment.

"I hope that's not going to be how you behave during this assignment," shot back Kingsley as he took the seat which had previously been occupied by Ron.

"Do you have any more information for me?" asked Harry as he leant on the edge of his desk, giving his eyes a quick rub as if that might help his tired vision for a second.

"We have a café," stated Kingsley pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to Harry. "It's called the Crossroads Café, and it's in New York. From what we can figure out, there's a young man whose been working there for just over nine years, he goes by the name Drake Malcolm and he's been described as tall, blonde and sarcastic by our sources. He's quite well known around the district and generally works round the clock at this café. As Mr Malfoy had his magic bound we of course can't trace him by that method, and he was quite elusive, but that may now be due to the fact that he was never in England for that whole time. The source was unsure if it was specifically the person we were looking for but given by the description, and the new name Mr Malfoy has chosen by the looks of it, we've really got no doubts."

Harry let the information sink in. Draco had gone to America. He had to go to America. What was he going to do when he got there, just stroll right into the café and say he was looking for an old school rival? Harry sighed, "Your sources seem a little dim if they wouldn't realise it was the same man just by his name," stated Harry as he looked at the non-descript flyer for the café in his hand.

"They were muggles who had never seen the man before in their life, you can't be too wishful in thinking that they'd know precisely who we were speaking of," replied Kingsley, obviously thinking along the same lines as Harry.

Harry laughed quietly to himself, "And, saying that he's going to recognise me the moment I walk into the door, what am I supposed to say exactly? 'Hi, I'm here to take you back to a world that basically threw you up onto the door of muggle society?' That's not going to fly very well you know," said Harry, giving Kingsley a variably disbelieving look.

"I don't care how you get him back here Harry, just do it. If can't do it within the three months, or our source was false and it was just a bad coincidence, you're too return and we'll send someone who doesn't know him personally to do, but in the meantime, you're to send us weekly updates on the situation. The key in this Harry is to earn his trust, personally I don't care how long it takes, it's six months to his re-trial anyway, but we need him back here otherwise Rita Skeeter's going to have a field day," replied Kingsley, "But remember, three months or we're going to send someone else in, and they'll be allowed to use force."

"So I guess I'm going to America," said Harry with mixed emotions flitting across his face.

"Yes, you're going to America, Harry," stated Kingsley


	4. Chapter 4

Draco stood out the front of the real estate agents, wringing his hands together. He was fifteen minutes early for his appointment and his nervous energy was almost consuming him from the inside out.

"Come on, come on, hurry up watch," said Draco anxiously as he took another glance down the cheap watch on his wrist, it still only reading an annoying 8.47 in the morning. Draco started to pace on the sidewalk. The hoards of people passing by barely gave him a glance in his frantic walking of figure eights, just as Draco knew they would.

Draco knew this part of the city well. It was what they deemed 'lower-middle class' but for Draco, that would be a much larger uprising in the world as he considered his tiny studio apartment that he had been renting for the past nine or so years.

The large buildings loomed over the streets, casting long and dark shadows over everyone, letting practically none of the morning sunlight filter through, though even if it did; it would only further illuminate the clustered swarms of people that were coagulating the roads in their vehicles, a muggle item which Draco had yet to sample.

Checking his watch again, Draco sighed realising only three minutes had passed, his anxious energy building again. He had never had to deal with a real estate agent in any context. He was privately renting the studio apartment from his boss at a much cheaper rate than what would have otherwise been asked; Draco took this by the fact that he had acquired the job without adequate housing at first, having spent the first few weeks of his working life at a hostel.

As his watched clicked closer to nine o'clock, Draco pulled sheet of paper out of his back pocket. It was a copy of his bank account statements and whatever other odds and ends he could pull out to try to convince a bank to provide him with a loan for an apartment. It had been a gruelling process consider he was missing a vast majority of the necessary muggle information, like a birth certificate, but after months of going back and forth he had finally convinced them to at least be eligible for a small-risk home loan, which inevitable meant he wasn't able to purchase a more fruitful property.

Undeterred though, Draco stood waiting as a smartly dressed man, sporting an obscenely bleached and immaculately styled mass of hair walked closer with a cocky smile on his face. Draco assumed this was the real estate agent Matthews that he was here to see, but suddenly feeling insecure, Draco hung back, afterall he had no experience whatsoever in this endeavour.

"Mr Drake Malcolm, I presume," said Matthews stated, holding out his hand for Draco to shake.

"Ahh, yes, yes that's me," replied Draco hurriedly. If he had been younger he would have known exactly how to address the man in front of him, however as the years had worn out Draco had found he'd lost some of is suave when dealing with people; he silently blamed that on his current working environment and the relaxed nature he'd grown accustomed to there.

"Nice to meet you, I'm George Matthews and I believe I'll be showing you around the area today. So, do you work nearby?" Matthews questioned Draco with a bright smile, but Draco felt as though he were being judged. He didn't have many highly articulate clothing anymore, he had scraped by with just a few t-shirts and pairs of jeans for the past few years, considering that he barely had time off, at his own request, and he was provided with a uniform.

Matthews didn't appear to notice Draco's apprehensive look at all as he unlocked the door to the real estate agency and held it open for the blonde behind him.

Draco looked through the door at the lush interior, suddenly aware that he hadn't answered Matthews; he quickly fumbled a reply, "Well, I'm about twenty blocks away, down west."

Matthews gave Draco a short look up and down before again encouraging him instead, "Well no worry, I've found several small apartments in your price range. I can show you the brochure before we go and look at them in detail."

Draco nodded, taking a deep breath as he walked into the establishment, the feeling of not belonging to this more extravagant world choking him somewhat.

* * *

Harry booked into his hotel with ease, thankfully remembering to pack enough muggle money to pay for the first month in advance. The receptionist had seemed quite affronted by the wad of cash that was dropped in front of her by the odd-looking man, but she didn't say anything in regards to it, instead she just taken his name and handed over the keys.

Dragging his luggage into the room Harry contemplated the information he'd been provided about the new person that Draco Malfoy apparently was. Harry couldn't for the life of him imagine the blonde man working in a café, let alone living in New York, but the lack of information in what Kingsley had been provided with trouble Harry, for one thing, where was Narcissa? Harry was sure that Draco wouldn't have left her on her own, but if she wasn't with Draco then where was she?

Harry shook his head, trying to rid it off the questions that he wouldn't be able to find answers to just yet. First he had to successfully locate Draco Malfoy and just hope that the information provided to him was accurate.

Chucking his bags onto the bed Harry sighed, he didn't even know how to approach Draco; would he still be the same arrogant arse he was at school, or would the world have broken him into pieces, so much so that he was barely recognisable? Harry shook his head again, he didn't want to consider what might have happened or how to deal with the situation until he was in it, after all, he'd been fairly good at winging it before.

Checking the clock on the bedside table Harry wondered if he should start the endeavour today or leave it till tomorrow, it was only 3pm after all. Looking at his three bags of luggage and not really in the mood to unpack it just yet Harry decide that it would be more beneficial to at least get a look at the place where Draco Malfoy was supposedly working.

Grabbing his wallet and putting it in his left back pocket, he checked his right back pocket for his mobile phone which had somehow stayed with him since leaving London. Harry found it amusing that so many wizards now carried the things, but it should have been expected considering how much faster the transfer of information was for all involved.

Harry patted the side of his jeans to check for his wand, and grabbing the room key, walked back out the way he had come.

Taking the elevator down, he turned to the map that was stuck onto the side of it, pulling out the same piece of paper where he'd scribbled the address. Following the criss-crossing lines Harry soon found the café in question; it was a good 43 blocks from his hotel. Harry cursed himself slightly for not finding accommodation closer.

Stepping out of the elevator, Harry was again met with the perplexed stare of the receptionist; he amused himself with the idea that he would look slightly strange with his British style. Harry had passed more than one finely dressed person, all walking around as if they'd just stepped off of a runaway; at least that was what Harry was assuming the fashion was as he hadn't encountered much of it in London at all.

Harry put his hand out as he'd seen many people do in movies, a cab instantly stopping beside him. Taking a seat in the back Harry hand the scrunched piece of paper to the cab driver, "Just there thanks," stated Harry relaxing back.

"That's the funny part of town," stated the cab driver in a thick accent, almost so thick that Harry couldn't understand him.

"What do you mean the funny part of town?" questioned Harry, but all he got in response was a short chuckle and an amused look from the cab driver.

As the cab pulled up just across the road from the café, Harry began to understand why the cab driver had referred to it as the 'funny' part of town, though 'funny' wasn't really the word for it, Harry knew the world for it, and that word was gay.

Harry handed over the cab fare and exited the cab just in time to see none other than a deflated looking Draco Malfoy walk into the café in question. Although his general appearance had changed Harry would have known the platinum blonde hair and stately walk anywhere.

Harry furrowed his brow; Draco Malfoy was working in a gay-friendly café.


	5. Chapter 5

Draco entered into the café feeling deflated and defeated, even the old-fashioned bell that dung at the arrival of new café-goers sounded far too happy for him. Angelina looked up from the cash register where she was preparing to do the mid-afternoon bank run.

"How'd it go?" she asked warily, far too used to Draco's random emotional outbursts at times. Draco looked to Angelina, a look of desperation plastered on his features to be quickly replaced with his usual calm expression. Angelina again felt sympathetic for him, she didn't know much about his life but she knew enough from when Jake had employed the young man. He had been living on the street, the place where he had lost his mother.

"How do you think it went?" replied Draco, trying to keep the snarkiness from his voice but failing slightly as he walked past the few regulars having their coffees, some of whom gave him a short wave. Angelina pouted in a way that always made Draco feel as though he were back in school and looking at Pansy Parkinson, Angelina however, looked nothing like Pansy.

Draco had found Angelina's appearance affronting at first. Her bright purple hair was always styled into a perfect Mohawk and the several facial piercings did nothing to discourage patrons, though from Draco's first impression, it would have scared him off greatly.

"Hey Drake!" called out Mark from the kitchen. Draco looked out the back with a grin, giving the man a big wave. Mark had been the person to hook Draco up the job, and Draco constantly felt the need to obscenely friendly for that one gesture, though Draco later figured out that Mark had simply been trying to charm him. The thought of that had caused Draco to laugh more than once.

"Jake's out the back doing paperwork if you know, if you want to talk to him," offered Angelina, turning to look at Draco again as he made his way through to the back of the café.

Draco turn back and smiled, "Thanks Ange," he replied, "And you!" he exclaimed as he wrapped Mark to give him a hug, "Where the hell were you yesterday, we got slammed and Mitch was drowning in orders," Draco teased.

Mark made a face of innocence at him, which Draco knew to mean that he'd called in a sickie to stay in bed with his new man Robert, "Anyway, Happy Birthday Drake. Jake told me you went to look at some properties today. Going to try and join the home-owners-broke-anonymous are you?" teased Mark back.

Draco laughed heartily, "Yeah, trying being the key word in that sentence, and thanks," replied Draco continuing along the kitchen. He could hear the few other employees sitting out the back, mostly likely having their lunchbreak. Draco thought about poking his head around the corner but the loud cackle that came from out the door made him pause for thought; Angelina's girlfriend Sophie was obviously out the back with the others and both him and Sophie had very quickly realised they did not have compatible personalities.

"Jake," said Draco hesitantly, always feeling bad about having to interrupt his boss whilst he was doing paperwork.

"Mr Drake Malcolm, what on earth are you doing here on your day off?" questioned Jake, faking anger at the blonde man standing in his door.

Draco shrugged as he took up residence in the empty seat in the tiny office, "Couldn't really think of anywhere else to go," said Draco truthfully.

Jake raised an eyebrow over his glasses, looking Draco square in the eye, "You, young man, need to learn how to celebrate, and Happy Birthday, I take it you liked your present that you insisted I didn't get you," said Jake, nodding towards the necklace that Draco had previously positioned around his neck.

"Yeah, thanks," replied Draco awkwardly.

"You didn't get a place I'm presuming," stated Jake, returning to look at the mass of paperwork on the desk. Draco saw the plans for the café extension, but still, that extension required Draco to leave the studio apartment situated directly above the café.

"I'm apparently a bit poorer than their typical occupants judging by the house prices," replied Draco shortly, again feeling guilty as he felt the weight of his imposition on Jake.

"You'll get there," replied Jake, looking up briefly to give Draco a small smile, "Anyway, you might want to go and have a look out the back before you disappear up into the eaves," joked Jake.

Draco lifted an eyebrow in enquiry, to which Jake just gave an innocent shrug before motioning for Draco to leave the office.

Draco was hesitant as he walked the rest of the way out into the very back area of café, the place where he ate most of his meals.

"Jake was meant to occupy you for more than five minutes," stated Angelina as she eyed Draco; holding a box of matches in her hands she was leaning over a small chocolate cake that came from Draco's favourite bakery down the street.

Draco felt like laughing, Angelina had obviously been trying to do this quietly.

"Happy Birthday Drake-Shake," stated Sophie, giving Draco the biggest, cheesiest grin she could muster, her bright green eyes still shinning under the dull fluorescent lighting.

"Yeah, Happy Birthday," chorused Mitch, Fiona, Kelly and Jules as they turned the corner from the edge of the building where they were mostly adding to the toxic fog that seemed to circle majority of the district.

"Thanks," said Draco, feeling as though the awkwardness of the day was actually tiring him down, or maybe the anxiety of the morning hadn't really ceased.

Draco stood there, getting hugs from his colleagues as Angelina finally lit all 28 candles on the cake and stood back from her masterpiece.

"No singing," stated Draco, looking around at them all, majority of which already knew Draco's birthday rules; he hated singing.

"No singing," confirmed Angelina with a grin on her face, "You just have to blow out the candles and make a wish.

Draco sighed, "I think I can manage that," he said lightly, a few of them laughing as he bent over the cake and closed his eyes for a brief second. _I wish… I wish I could find a way out of here,_ thought Draco as his mind poured over the struggle of the past ten years, and just wanting that previous family and prosperity he had had before, something that was so distant from his current life, he's not even sure it was rule half the time.

Blowing the candles, the group cheered and Draco stood back up straight. "Here, cut it up then," said Angelina handing Draco the knife as she returned to the front of the shop, dragging Mitch back into the kitchen amidst calls from Mark that he needed assistance.

The girls crowded around the cake hungrily as Draco pushed the knife through the thick cake, a look of gluttonous pleasure on his face.

"So, why didn't you go out with a guy friend on this marvellous day?" asked Sophie, causing a derisive snort to come from Kelly.

"Drake doesn't date Sophie," replied Kelly on Draco's behalf, causing a small smile to break out on his face before he heard the familiar, frantic footsteps of Angelina behind him.

"Drake, there's someone here for you," said Angelina, poking her head around the door.

"Who is it?" asked Draco perplexed, he didn't know enough people to be expecting someone to show up at his workplace on his birthday.

"They said their name was Harry Potter," stated Angelina with a quirked eyebrow.

Draco's face fell, his mood plummeting from mildly disgruntled and amused to downright unsure and worrisome.

"I thought you said he didn't date," goaded Sophie to Kelly as the little bit of chatter the girls had been involved in dissolved.

Draco turned his gaze to Kelly as he put down the knife, "Do you think you could just cut me a piece, I've ah… I've got to see this person," stated Draco, trying to pull back up his mask of indifference.

"Sure," replied Kelly with a worrying expression on her face. Draco shot her a small smile before turning to follow Angelina to the front counter.

Draco counted his steps, focusing his eyes directly on Angelina's perfect Mohawk, again wondering how on earth she got it so perfect every morning. Taking a few deep breaths, Draco earnt some odd looks from Mark and Mitch as he made his way through to the front of the café; he was sure he looked as though he was walking the green mile.

Draco only allowed himself to look up once he was standing directly beside Angelina, behind the counter, though he still required the sharp jab of Angelina's elbow into his rips as encouragement.

As Draco's gaze crept up he was under no misapprehension that this man was indeed Harry Potter. His face had changed and wearied, but the unruly hair and the sharp, instinctive green eyes behind those unsightly glasses was no different to when they were at school together.

"Hello Malfoy," said Harry pleasantly, giving an awkward smile as he tried to read Draco's face to see what his appearance in this small, non-descript café would cause Draco to feel.

"Hello Potter," replied Draco, dragging up his best sneer from the depths of his youth.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry's face dropped; this wasn't going to be as easy as he had thought, then again, he hadn't really been thinking. He wasn't sure what had come over upon seeing the blonde but all of sudden it was if his feet had had a mind of their own, carrying themselves over and into the café where the man had disappeared to.

Harry entered the café, just to see the blonde hair disappear around a corner with the heading, 'Staff Only' above it. Looking around he found himself stuck the bizarre idea of Draco Malfoy working in such a place. The walls were covered head to toe in band posters that had played there, flyers of all sorts, post cards for employees that were travelling by the appearance of it along with a multitude of gay pride flags and artwork promoting equality.

Harry wasn't homophobic, but the mere insanity of the situation he was in seemed to cause a laugh to break out of his calm reverie. The woman at the front counter assessed him with hard eyes so Harry turned his attention to a seat in the corner. Walking over, he haphazardly tried to avoid any eye contact with the patrons whose gaze was drilling into the back of his head; they obviously though he was laughing at all of the paraphernalia on the walls.

Harry watched as the woman disappeared out the back of the café as well, leaving it seemingly un-manned out the front. Harry considered the information he had been given. Draco Malfoy, aka, Drake Malcolm had chosen New York, not at all a world or land he knew and not only that but he had chosen, without regards to his sexual orientation, to station himself in what appeared to be little-gay-town. Harry was flustered by this, he didn't understand the logistics of such a move at all, unless Draco had known that the Ministry would one day come looking for him. Harry hoped that wasn't the reason behind his elusiveness, otherwise this was going to be a difficult assignment.

Momentarily distracted by a bustle from the back of the shop Harry didn't notice as the heavily pierced and heavily tattooed woman came over to him. Harry looked up quickly so as not to offend.

"Can I help you with anyone today? Food, coffee?" offered the woman with a manner of professionalism that shocked Harry a little, he admitted he had had pre-conceived ideas about this woman and her possible work competency.

"Ah, actually I'm looking for someone; tall, blonde, is usually sneering," supplied Harry, but the bemused look on the woman's face had Harry wondering if they had actually seen the same person walk into the café, or maybe it was due to the fact that Draco may not have many people just stopping by to look for him.

"Drake you mean?" offered the woman, still looking slightly bemused, "And I think it's a bit cruel to call his smile a sneer." Harry stared up at the woman, she was defending Draco; the Draco Malfoy who would have previously spit on her if he'd had the chance.

"Yes, Drake, and sorry, I'm an old…" Harry paused on saying the word 'friend' because he knew as soon as Draco came out that she would realise they were never friends, "…school buddy." Harry finished shortly, not sure if buddy was the word he was meant to say, it was almost as the word 'friend'.

"I'll go grab him just as soon as I finalise this bill then," said the woman as she caught a glimpse at a group of the customers now standing at the till, obviously wanting to pay for the meal they'd just received.

Harry stood up, following the woman to the counter and standing behind the paying customers, again trying not to make eye contact as their curious gaze encircled him. One of the women in the group whispered something to one of her male friends causing his eyes to light up a little and small grin to spread on his face.

Harry was unsure about whether he was possibly being insulted or just critiqued but the attention made him feel out of place and anxious.

Watching as the group left, Harry turned to lean against the counter slightly the woman again turning her attention to him.

"So who can I tell Drake is looking for him?" she enquired, giving Harry the once over with suspicious eyes.

"Harry, Harry Potter," replied Harry as he tried to bite his tongue, he hadn't felt this scrutinised since the first few years after the war.

"I'll be right back," stated the woman as she again walked with her forceful gait into the back of the shop.

Harry shifted his balance from foot to foot as the slow sound of two sets of feet came back up to the front of the shop. It all of a sudden crossed his mind that this may not have been the best plan of action, but by now it was too late to go running back out through the way he had come.

Harry watched as the blonde man furtively kept his gaze from him, but when he looked up Harry was reminded all over again of his old school rival as the grey eyes bore into his own.

"Hello Malfoy," said Harry without thinking, it coming out a lot cheerier than he had intended it to, in fact by the way it had sounded it made it seem as if he dropped into the café on a daily basis to say hello to this man.

"Hello Potter," replied Draco stonily, his sneer seeming to have survived whatever life he'd endured for the past ten years.

An awkward silence fell after the brief exchange and Harry found himself again stepping from foot to foot. The woman looked between the two men, obviously perplexed by the exchange, but she just shrugged and turned to Draco, "I'll leave you to it then," she stated as she again returned to the back of the café.

"Thanks Ange," replied Draco in a slightly lighter tone, but the sour look on his face did nothing if not intensify now that Harry and him were officially alone.

"What are you doing here Potter?" asked Draco starkly, his hands clutching onto the side of the counter with so much force that his knuckles had turned white.

"I could ask you the same Mal… ah, Drake." Harry corrected himself in case anyone was listening, he was sure that the woman had very clearly picked up on the different name that Draco had responded to.

"I work here, and I live here and why should it matter to you." Draco's teeth sounded like they were ground together; in fact Harry was thinking he should tell Draco to consider becoming a ventriloquist as Harry was sure the man had no moved his lips once to let the words out.

"I'm here… on a vacation," offered Harry as an explanation which only caused a more derisive sneer from Draco.

"At least try to lie well," mocked Draco, his knuckles growing grey and blue with the amount of pressure with which he was holding onto the counter.

Harry was unsure how to answer, hell, he was unsure how to handle the whole situation that he'd put himself in. He assumed that Kingsley had known what he was doing when he put Harry on this assignment but Harry now felt it was very clear that he had had no idea how to approach it at all considering he'd just randomly walked into the café where Draco was working but apparent pure chance with on a supposed vacation.

"Well? No more explanation?" goaded Draco, his fingers re-evaluating their position on the counter several times before returning to gripping it just as strongly.

Harry considered trying to coerce the lie he'd told into a reliable half-truth but he faltered again. Draco and his mother had been banished by the only world they'd ever known, sent out without anything to help them into another world that they didn't understand; Harry felt as if they deserved one piece of truth, or at least Draco did.

"I'm here on assignment actually," clarified Harry, his voice still displaying his indecisiveness.

"And what assignment would that be Potter? Making sure our name was destroyed, or that we had died?" queried Draco with mock kindness.

"Actually, I was sent to bring you and your mother back," stated Harry simply, unaware of the affect that his words would have on the other man but the look of surprise and hope broke through the cold, grey eyes for only a brief second.

"Get out Potter." Draco's voice spoke volumes but it all seemed like an emotional jumble to Harry as he raised his eyebrows.

"Get out!" yelled Draco, his hand finally releasing his grip on the counter top to point towards the door.

Harry followed the words of his old school rival without a glance back.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: This is a small chapter because I basically just wanted to finish setting up the entire scene for you all. So by now we've got a general idea of the world that this will be based in. I hope you're enjoying it. :)**

* * *

Draco bowed his head as he finally closed the door to his studio apartment, sighing, he turned around the darkness, the only illumination coming from the window above his bed where the curtains had been pulled open the night before.

Feeling as though he was drunk, Draco stumbled over to the kitchen, his head reeling over and over again with the words Potter had spoken to him.

"Potter. Harry Potter. Harry Potter in New York. Harry Potter in the little café where I worked in New York, just below where I live in New York," murmured Draco, feeling as though he were sure to go inside before dawn broke through the darkness again.

Sitting the darkness, his mind still barely comprehending anything other than the gentle sound of the fan that he had obviously left on in his haste out the door in the morning, Draco tried to recollect the entire day. "What a fucking birthday," he mumbled without any emotion. Draco had been under the impression that after failing to find any new suitable living arrangements that the worst of the day would be over.

"Potter…" mumbled Draco once last time before yawning and rubbing his eyes. He couldn't bring himself to move from his small kitchen table, instead he simply put his head down onto the cool wood and let his mind take away from the days stress, subconsciously wondering if his first birthday wish in ten years was actually about to come true.

As Draco finally drifted into sleep, his mother's words filled his head… '_Good things come to those who wait…'_

* * *

Harry faltered as he stared down at the parchment beneath his hands, Kingsley had asked him to owl him as soon as he had arrived and settled into the hotel. Harry stared across at the luggage that was still reasonably packed; in his opinion that wasn't settled in but Kingsley would most likely not take that for an excuse not to owl him.

Twisting the quill around in his fingers, Harry drew his mind back to the day before and the truly baffling sequence of events that had unfolded, majority of which he had instigated even if he was unsure why he had done so in the first place.

The image of Draco Malfoy filled his head, as it had all the night before. Harry was sure he still looked the same but as the image seemed determined not to be ignored Harry let his mind notice the subtle differences that he hadn't properly seen whilst the man had been so near.

There were now lines on his face, Harry imagined it would have been from the stress and worry that being exiled would have done to him, but the odd mixture of emotions and the way he expressed them had changed considerably since he was younger. Harry had always been amazed at how well Draco had been able to hide whatever he was feeling in most situations if the need arose, however the man that Harry had met seemed not only unable to hide his emotions, but completely unable to even choose which emotions where running through him.

Draco had always been thin, but athletically thin to say the least, however as Harry took in his physique he noticed that Draco seemed too small, too thin, and the muscles on his arms seemed continually strained, or maybe it had been just how tightly Draco had been clutching the counter top whilst talking with Harry.

Harry, throwing down the quill and rubbing his temples gave in up to the insanity in his brain and instead turned on the television, wishing for anything to wipe away the image of Draco Malfoy from his mind.

Harry flicked through the channels, barely paying attention to what he was watching or listening to, but as he flicked past a news channel he saw a flicker of something familiar, prompting him to flip it back.

On the screen was the usual blonde, perky news reporter whose voice sounded artificially programmed, however, the headline below was what caught Harry's eyes. A woman in her early to mid fifties had been found on the side of the road. The only thing on her was a small set of matches, the logo matching that of a New York coffeehouse. Harry scratched his head about why this had gained his attention.

Barely listening Harry turned back to the parchment underneath his hands, still trying to think about what he could possibly write to Kingsley about his disastrous first day when an artist's rendition of what the woman looked like flashed up onto the screen.

Harry peered over, again unsure why he was attracted to the news story at all, but as a slight gasp escaped his lips as he took in the features of the woman that they had found. Choking slightly he drew himself closer to the TV; he was sure that the woman they were talking about was Narcissa Malfoy.

The news reporter went on to say that the woman was in a critical condition and appeared to have been abused multiple times over what detectives believed were several years.

"Narcissa," murmured Harry, refusing to drag his eyes from the television screen as again the image flashed back in front of the news reporter, her words asking for anyone with knowledge of who the woman was to come forward as soon as possible.


	8. Chapter 8

Harry walked into the Crossroads Café at 9am sharp. He hadn't been sure when the café was due to open but he figured that since they obviously offered a breakfast menu it would be logical to be open during the standard breakfast times.

The woman who had stood at the counter before was there, engrossed in a magazine called 'Lyz' that looked as though it was orientated to the gay community considering the imagery on it. She looked up briefly as Harry entered, rolling her eyes, probably assuming Harry to be some kind of suitor.

Harry at the bench towards the front of the shop; it had a large window to look out onto the street and a rack of magazines to the side of it. Harry picked up a random magazine and began flicking through.

"Are you here for Drake again?" asked the woman, her service in hospitality failing, or maybe Draco had told her not to let him in again, Harry didn't know.

"Ah…" Harry faltered, to be truthful, this was the only place he knew about in New York and it was small and quaint enough to remind him of London, compared to the other major cafes that were dispersed in the city, "Breakfast actually." The woman raised an eyebrow but didn't speak, handing Harry the menu and returned to her seat.

Harry assumed he would return to the counter to order but he was counted wrong when after five minutes of browsing the menu, Draco appeared from the back of the café with a black waisted apron on, jeans and a blue button down shirt on, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows just like Harry remembered he had done at school.

Harry returned his gaze to the menu as Draco obviously spotted himself, the urgent whispers coming from whom Harry presumed was Draco and the woman were audibly enough to know that Draco was not happy about having to serve him.

Harry tilted his head to the side as it grew silent, but just as he was about to turn around and see if Draco had stormed out the back, the blonde man was there.

"How can I help you today?" asked Draco through gritted teeth. Harry was right to assume that his second appearance was angering him, though Harry failed to understand the content of Draco's pure disdain and hate for him, he thought that they would have grown past that, Harry had after all saved his and his family's lives.

"I'll have pancakes thanks, and a coffee," replied Harry faster than he had intended but Harry watched as Draco scribbled down his order in shorthand and began to walk away.

Harry didn't want this to be difficult, hell, he really wasn't in the mood of difficulty anymore, he just wanted to do his simple assignments, avoid his paperwork and allow Ron to take all the heavy lifting work to his heart's content. Harry figured it was a fair enough trade for everything he had been through.

"Do you have a break at lunch or something?" Harry found the words had flown out of his mouth without any intention on his behalf, in fact he wasn't the only one startled by his loud question. The woman had looked up with surprised eyes, before turning her gaze to Draco who seemed to be frozen in his position. The few patrons who had walked in the door just as Harry had shouted seemed startled and gave him several odd looks before waving to the woman behind the counter and taking a large table towards the back of the café.

Harry waited to see if Draco would reply at all but Harry was unsure if he could even move. The clock on the wall showed that at least five minutes passed before Draco actually moved again, turning to look at Harry his expression was unreadable; it was a look that Harry had never before encountered from the man.

"Have you gone mental Potter?" questioned Draco, uncaring of the patrons that were close by to him, one of whom seemed to grab his hand for a brief moment though Harry couldn't be sure. Before Harry could respond Draco walked back into the kitchen and closed the sliding door half-way, obviously trying to force Harry to abstain from shouting anymore questions in his directions.

The patrons, whom Harry soon recognised as the ones who had been there the previous afternoon, gave Harry an amused look, whilst the woman behind the counter had the largest grin on her face Harry had personally ever seen. As her eyes met Harry's her smile widened even further, shaking her head as if to emphasise the insanity of his yelling.

Harry turned back to the window, thinking that he really should learn to get these random outbursts under control, but Harry couldn't deny the underlying reason why he was happy to be there, in the middle of what the receptionist of the hotel referred to as 'Gay New York' and in the small, mis-matched and eccentric café; he had wanted to see Draco Malfoy.

Harry had considered the man, who had then only been barely 20, and his mother often in the first few years of their exile from the wizarding community, part of Harry had always expected to see him appear around a random corner at Diagon Alley and insult him like he used to. In all honesty, Harry missed that most about his school days; he missed the challenge. Once all the remaining death-eaters had been locked up and any other miscreants dealt with there hadn't been much else left to do with life. He was the saviour of the wizarding world and he found it boring.

Harry often mused if that was the real reason his and Ginny's relationship few apart, or maybe they just weren't meant to be together in the first, after all, Harry hadn't actually felt attracted to someone since Ginny, and he wasn't even sure if he had been attracted to her.

Pursing his lips he decided to actually take in some of the magazine that was sitting in front of him, it stated proudly that it was New York's own gay men magazine and flicking through it he could see just what New York men were supposedly looking for in reading material; a whole lot of smut.

Closing the magazine, Harry was again surprised to find Draco Malfoy having snuck up on him. Harry smiled, trying to emit an air of friendliness about him but the look that Malfoy gave him didn't endear him to smile more, in fact the look came across as though Draco was thinking of having him committed to a mental institution.

"Not quite man enough for the sealed section then Potter?" mocked Draco as he sat the plate of pancakes and the coffee down. Harry turned his face back to the magazine, and then realising that Draco must have seen what he was reading, blushed readily at the words.

"Well, considering the fact that as far as I know I'm not gay, I'd say it's not quite to my fancy," remarked Harry back, his sentence coming out long drawn and sounding far too thought out.

Draco raised an eyebrow and went to return to the kitchen, but just as he took one step, he seemed to rethink it and return his attention to Harry.

"What you said yesterday, what did you mean by it?" asked Draco sincerely. Harry looked up to find real curiousity in the man's eyes but Harry seemed to find himself drawing a blank on the matter.

"What part of what I said yesterday?" queried Harry about, feeling dumbfounded and beyond idiotic, considering that they hadn't exactly had a long conversation.

Draco obviously had the same idea as he let out an exasperated sigh and rolling his eyes before replying with as much as irritation as Harry expected, "About coming to take my mother and I back?" questioned Draco, his teeth returning to their clenching pattern.

"Oh, well yes, I did mean it," replied Harry simply but guilt overwhelmed him quickly as he realised what those words meant to Draco and what they really meant to him; Harry was missing out the most important part of them coming back, that they were only returning so that they could fully strip their magic away, rewrite their bloodline to ensure that they couldn't heir any magical children.

Draco nodded slowly, putting his hands in the front pockets of the apron as if considering Harry's confirmation before taking it as truth.

Harry wanted to say something more, to explain it, but for someone who had been having very random outbursts of late, he couldn't find the words.

"Ah, shouldn't you take those people's orders?" said Harry instead, gesturing to the table of now laughing people towards the back of the shop.

"I've already put their order in, they get the same stuff everyday," replied Draco shortly.

As the silence fell over them, Harry felt the weight of it in his lack of words. He wanted to talk to the man, to understand how, coming from a world so full of magic and wonder did he end up in this place, but it seemed rude to Harry considering all the facts of his assignment.

"I have a break at 10.30 for half an hour," said Draco pointedly before stalking off back to the kitchen, leaving Harry in his mists to try and figure out, that now that he had an audience with Draco Malfoy, what the hell was he going to say?


	9. Chapter 9

Draco stood out the back of the café as he waited for Angelina to bring him his mid-morning break coffee. Tapping his foot on the ground Mark and Mitch both looked over at him with coy smiles as Angelina finally came through the door and handed Draco his coffee.

"Going to go and talk to your friend then?" teased Angelina, motioning her head through the door to where Harry was clearly seen causing Draco to quickly avert his eyes.

"Yes, I just wanted to grab my coffee first," remark Draco as he began taking sips of the warm liquid, hoping it would calm him like it always seemed to.

"I took a doughnut out there for you too, you know, those chocolate glazed one's you like," stated Angelina as she returned to the counter, rolling her eyes as another group of people walked through the door even though there was no more seating available.

Draco continued taking sips of his coffee, Mark and Mitch still giving him coy smiles that began to get on Draco's nerves. "What? Seriously what?" questioned Draco irritably, throwing his arms out as that would maybe them tell him what on earth was so funny.

"Nothing," replied Mitch, causing his twin brother Mark to burst out laughing.

Draco scowled, downing the coffee and walking out the kitchen. "Aww, we were just playing Drake," remarked Mark as Draco slammed the sliding door closed, causing a few of the familiar patrons to look at Draco with surprise.

Draco's apprehension rose higher as Harry turned to look at him. The insanity of the situation was still fazing Draco. He had never prepared himself for any moment that might include anything to do with magic again, in fact he'd practically given up on the whole concept of magic, and given the fact that he didn't plan on reproducing, the idea of a magically world could have remained lost in his past and he was sure he would have survived just fine.

In a way Draco was okay without his magic. It had been a huge adjustment, but he'd managed to become accustomed to muggles and their devices relatively easy, in fact, he wasn't too bothered by the whole predicament anymore, with the exception of his missing mother but he found that he had mourned her over time and it felt as though she had passed on, even though Draco had absolutely no idea what had happened to her.

The issues behind the sudden disappearance of his mother irked him nowadays as sometimes he sat down, still trying to recall the dream-like memories which surrounded the seven months he spent on the streets; his mother had disappeared just after two. At first, Draco had been mortified, but as time proceeded, the idea of his mother dissipated, just like the idea of magic and the world he had come from. To be truthful, sometimes Draco even wondered if any of it happened. After they'd bound his magic the dark mark had faded and had now left nothing by bare skin in its place. He felt in this world that he'd been washed clean.

Sitting himself next to Harry, he was happy that the man hadn't spoken yet as Draco was still fumbling to collect his thoughts into something comprehendible.

"You wanted to talk," offered Draco as an opening, putting on his best scowl as he pulled the chocolate glazed doughnut over to him and proceeding to pull it apart, trying his best not to look over to Harry.

Harry faltered again, again finding himself unsure of what to say; he still hadn't figured out what he wanted to say or what he could, he didn't want Draco to hate him after all, but the idea of telling Draco Malfoy, a boy whom had been so proud of his pureblood, that he would never feel or even know magic again was something that Harry believed would send him running for the hills.

"Potter, come on, you've got something to say otherwise you wouldn't be here," stated Draco, again sounding exasperated at Harry.

Harry's contemplation stopped in its tracks, a brief bout of anger flaring up in his chest, "Well if you didn't want to know what I had to say you wouldn't be sitting right next to me now would you?" shot Harry, his eyes turning to glare at Draco.

As soon as the words came out of his mouth guilt overcame him and the look on Draco's face was disapproving.

"If you came here for an argument, you're not going to get it Potter. I work here, you can't just barge into my life and expect to be treated like the Chosen One," retorted Draco snidely, his temperament changing very quickly into the one that Harry recognised so well.

Silence fell over the pair again and Harry caught a sneaky look at the clock, Draco only had 10 minutes left of his break and Harry was wasting his time by trying to find the words for something that he wasn't even sure he believed in.

"You'd think after everything that had happened that we'd at least be able to have a reasonable conversation like adults," remarked Harry with a small smile, giving Draco a sideways glance.

"I think we both know the likelihood of that happening without at least a few sly comments," replied Draco, the side of his lip quirking up.

Harry cleared his throat hesitantly, "Look Mal- Draco, I ah, I know I told you I came here to take you back to the world…" Harry's words disintegrated in his mouth as Draco's eyes showed an odd mixture of emotion, something like hope and despair rolled into one package, "But I… I also came to make sure you and your mother were alright."

Draco looked down at the table, "What would make you think we weren't?" he questioned.

"Well, you two did sufficiently disappear off the face of the earth, everything still thought you were in Britain somewhere but nobody could find you, and considering your magic was bound there was no way to use a magical trace," supplied Harry, trying to find a rhythm to the conversation.

"Shouldn't have bound it so hard than you wouldn't have had such a hard time finding me," replied Draco with no emotion.

"I don't that's possible," said Harry, cocking his head to side the get a better glimpse of Draco as he simply stared out of the window blankly.

"Potter, you and I both know that you didn't come here just to check up or just to bring us back. The Ministry wouldn't bring us back. We're condemned. The only reason we'd ever end up back there is for something worse than this, and to be honest, I don't want to go back. I like it here, it's easy." Draco's words struck Harry in the chest, as if a small piece of him had been ripped. Harry had known that if he told the truth it would be hard to get Draco back, but the fact that Draco knew that something worse would probably come from returning and the fact that he was choosing this life was something unknown to Harry; it felt as if by Draco's words, Harry's part of his past involving the man had been slightly torn as well. The feeling baffled Harry.

"You don't want to go back?" re-iterated Harry, still trying to find rhyme and reason to the conversation.

"I don't want to go back," concluded Draco, finally turning to look at Harry; the blunt trauma and turmoil in Draco's eyes took another stab at Harry.

"I have to get back to work," stated Draco, standing up and grabbing the empty plate and Harry's empty coffee mug, "Do you want anything else?"

"Another coffee thanks," requested Harry, the turmoil he felt inside probably showing all over his face.

Just as Draco was about to walk off, Harry grabbed his arm, "You don't mind if I hang around here do you?" he asked.

Draco rolled his eyes and shrugged, "It doesn't matter anyway does it?" replied Draco as if that was answer enough.

Harry reeled from the conversation, he wasn't sure exactly who Draco Malfoy was anymore but it wasn't that man walking away from him, that man who had served him was Drake Malcolm and the realisation that not Harry, or anyone else in the world, could ever bring him back to the wizarding world was sharp in his chest.

Draco's words echoed in his head as he tried to make sense of this world he had stumbled into upon taking the assignment, _'I don't want to go back…'_


	10. Chapter 10

Draco dropped his bag as soon as he opened the door to his apartment, pulling his phone out of his pocket he idly checked his messages, majority of whom were from Mark trying to encourage him to come out for a few drinks after work. Draco scowled slightly but found himself considering the option for the first time ever.

He'd told Harry that he didn't want to leave this world, and he found that as soon as he spoke the words he realised that they were true. He didn't want to leave. He had a place to stay; a job that was alright and even a few friends who didn't seem to mind the fact that he never spoke of his past; as fair as they knew he'd dropped out of the sky randomly.

Draco ran his fingers over the keys before hitting reply, asking Mark to come up to his place after he finished. Sighing he threw his phone onto the second hand lounge, slowly removing his clothing as he walked to the bathroom.

Draco quite enjoyed his small space; it felt homely. He had everything he needed in it, and the bathroom even allowed enough room for ample movement, more so than some of the other apartments he'd seen in his random exploits of open houses.

Hurriedly washing himself, Draco slowly became aware of the fact that he didn't really know what to wear in what Mark referred to as 'out'. Draco had never actually been 'out' and he was sure his lack of knowledge about how to act in such places as dance clubs or pubs would become apparent very early on in the night. Feeling a small piece of anxiety rise up, Draco swallowed it back down, if he was going to stay here forever, he'd eventually have to remove himself from his little bubble of life he'd become accustomed to.

Just as Draco pulled on his favourite T-shirt, there was an abrupt knock at the door. Draco checked the clock; it was half an hour too early for Mark to be there. Cursing under his breath Draco pulled on his jeans, ignoring the belt for the time being Draco just let them hang below his hips.

Draco opened the door, not really knowing what to expect but his jaw dropped very quickly when he found the whole staff of the café standing at his door, including a grinning Jake at the very back of the group.

"Mark said you finally agreed to come and get your arse out to the clubs, so I closed the café early and we all decided to come help you on your journey and to celebrate," laughed Jake at the surprised look on Draco's face.

Draco watched as Mark, who had acquired his boyfriend Robert along the way, Mitch, Angelina with her girlfriend Sophie, Fiona, Kelly, Jules and Jake piled into his small living area. Draco had not at all been prepared to have them all in his space so abruptly, but the smiles and laughter that quickly enveloped his apartment felt warm and inviting to him.

Angelina was a short snort as she picked up his discarded T-shirt on the floor of kitchen, throwing it at him, "Jesus Drake, learn to clean up," she teased.

Draco laughed, he sound breaking through loud and clear, something that he had never heard from himself before, and by the surprised looks on his workmates faces, they obviously hadn't thought he had it in him either.

"Okay, well finish getting ready," said Jake, motioning his hands for Draco to return to the bedroom, "And I'll open the wine!" Jake presented several bottle of wines that they stocked at the café; Draco had never seen him take anything home from the café before.

There was a loud cheer from the group as Draco went back into his room. Taking a sharp look at himself in the mirror he pursed his lips, grabbing his hair and tying it back around the nape of his neck. Considering himself, Draco realised that having his hair back made him look too much like his father, but he didn't feel like leaving it out so he just decided not to pay attention to any reflective surfaces for the night.

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Draco wasn't sure what time he had returned home, hell, he wasn't even sure what had happened the night before but as soon as his alarm went off he was positive that he was dying. The obnoxious noise was loud and ringing in his ears, as if demanding his attention. Disgruntled, Draco had whacked his hand down on the alarm, causing now a small purple bruise to form, and the dread of having to work whilst feeling so horrible choked Draco back.

Now that he was there, and had had several incredibly strong cups of coffee, made of course by Angelina the Coffee Queen, he was feeling a little bit more alive. The two hours had passed well in actual fact; they had all showed up for work on time, except for Jake who strolled in an hour late but considering it was his business, Draco figured it was too big a deal. Amazingly Draco found that they were running perfectly on time for the morning, Angelina was even ahead of her schedule and was busy making up the salad rolls for the day, her hands moving as fast a humanely possible, even though Draco was unsure whether her eyes were even open.

Angelina caught his glance and gave a weary nod and smile to him, though Draco felt it was more directed behind him, and he was right.

He had only just turned the sign to read 'Open' when the group of regulars came into the door, looking almost as haphazardly alive as the staff that was working. They shuffled past with a few hellos and a lot of tired stares. Draco noted that the usual group of nine had grown to fifteen since yesterday causing Draco to assume that some of them hadn't found a way to shake off last night's partners before frequenting here again.

Draco sent the usual order through with a couple of extra dishes and put down the fifteen coffees that would most likely be required. Sighing, Draco paused, counting the minutes till nine o'clock.

Draco wasn't entirely sure why he was doing it; why he was counting down to the time when Harry might arrive at the café again, but Draco thought it might have something to do with his dreams the night before, the dreams of the life that he'd been removed from.

Draco hadn't had those dreams for years, not since he'd given up hope of them; they were the same as his dreams of his mother and father and being a family again; there was no hope of that.

"Drake," called Jake, trying to get his attention, a quizzical look on his face as he motioned for Draco to turn around. Draco shot an apologetic smile at the man before turning to find himself face to face again with Harry Potter.

Draco wanted to say something snarky, feeling embarrassed about the fact that he had just been thinking about the man in some aspect but the small smile Harry gave him, coupled with the rings under the man's eyes told Draco that he too, hadn't had a very good night's sleep.

"Coffee," Draco assumed putting in down on a new ticket, scribbling the name Harry on top of it. Putting the name on top of the ticket, instead of a number was something that they only ever did for regulars, but Draco figured majority of them would figure out who Harry was quickly, but he didn't welcome the connotations that were already coming from his sudden appearance.

"Please," replied Harry dimly as he watched Draco's neat cursive flow over the page. Draco gave him an awkward smile as he moved to the seat he had occupied yesterday, thinking that he might as well make it easy for them to find him.

Draco wanted to wonder why Harry was back there, and why it made him feel just a twinge of happiness but he pushed it from the back of his mind, instead, intent on making sure he didn't cut off any of his fingers whilst helping Mark at the back of the café.

Harry watched as Draco cast him a sideways glance before disappearing behind the sliding door. Fumbling , Harry pulled the news clipping he had taken from the morning paper, staring intently what he could now clearly distinguish as the form of Naricssa Malfoy and as he stared he wondered if Draco had any idea about what was going on.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: Hey everybody, sorry for the delay in chapters recently, my internet was down for a few days, but rest assured you're going to have three new chapters all out today for you! This chapter is another building block chapter, so I really wanted to paint you a picture of the life that Draco is currently living, because there's going to be an emphasis of it later in the story. Enjoy. :)**

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Draco flipped the sign on the front of the store to "Closed" for the Monday. It had been five days since Harry Potter had made his first appearance at the café and it seemed that it was the only place that he knew about in New York since he had come to frequent every day. Draco wondered what could enthral the man so much that he could sit there all day, drinking his coffee and reading his various books; just watching the world fly-by.

At first Harry Potter's intrusions had annoyed Draco, but as it drew to the end of the fifth day of his 'assignment', Draco found the appearance of the man comforting, even if it did remind him of a life he wanted to forget, or that he was sure he was going too eventually.

Draco had paused for much thought on the reason why Harry had come in the first place; he didn't want the dark thoughts to plague his mind but as he turned to leave from the staff exit, the last few of the patrons exiting, he again came face to face the man in a way that was a little too close for comfort.

"I was wondering if you wanted to talk," offered Harry, seeming as though he had no idea what to do, which wouldn't have surprised Draco at all.

Draco turned to look at Angelina who had once again stopped to look at the pair of men, as she often did throughout the day which had started to irk Draco.

"Ah…" Draco paused, unsure of what to say in return; he wasn't sure if he wanted to talk to anyone about anything, least of all talking to Harry Potter about what he was sure would be a depressing subject, to say the least.

Harry looked at his expectantly and the small gleam in his eyes told Draco that he was expecting a rejection. Spurred slightly by the surety that Harry had, Draco ignored the still curious stare of Angelina and decided to surprise Harry, "Sure, that sounds good."

Harry raised his eyebrows, his shock coming through slightly as he yet again considered the man in front of him whom he was now sure could not be further from the Draco Malfoy he was accustomed to.

"Where?" questioned Harry, his lack of preparedness only furthering Draco's amusement at the situation; Harry Potter had no idea what he was doing.

For a moment, Draco considered taking him to the ridiculously gay bar down the street; one that he had been dragged to with Mark on the one occasion he had decided to go out. Smiling a little to himself Draco thought better of the idea, deciding that he wouldn't scare Potter of the face of the earth; he might leave that for later if he could.

"Drake…" started Angelina, sidling up beside the two men and placing her hand gently on Draco's arm to gain further attention, "Are you leaving?" Angelina stated the question in such a way that Draco knew she had asked it before but he hadn't been paying attention.

"Yeah, sorry Ange. Um… My place is just upstairs I guess," offered Draco with little thought, then all of a sudden coming to terms with what he had just offered, and in full view of Angelina; he knew she could make the most assumptions she could without going off the rails too far, but even some of her assumptions were enough to drive him insane.

Harry nodded, and made a motion to follow Draco. Angelina continued her staring campaign with a small smile on her face as she watched Draco escort Harry through the kitchen of the café and then off to the side where a large red door stood out amongst all the white.

Opening the door it put Draco onto the familiar landing where, if he were to walk to the right he would go through another door and out onto the street, whilst turning left it led to a small staircase that rose above the shop to Draco's own old, green front door.

Harry followed with little in the way of conversation as Draco shouted out his various goodbyes from the door and then led him up the small staircase.

Draco hated these stairs at times; they were old and creaky in several places, and the tarnished mahogany look of them had been worn away from over fifty years of service to the person climbing them; but tonight, as he led his old school rival up them, they gave him the best sense of comfort that he could have asked for.

Draco wondered what the stairway would look like to Harry; he knew how it had appeared to him when he'd first come; it looked dark and dank and like it was part of a horror movie, but now Draco viewed it as part of his own home. Jake had allowed Draco to put up posters and postcards that he enjoyed along the walls, as if it were a montage of all the things he's grown to love about the muggle world; even including a few local bands that had played at the café.

Draco pulled the keys out of his pocket, slotting the oldest and largest of the collection into the almost expired lock. Draco could feel Harry fidgeting as he waited; the anxiety that welled up from that simple knowledge caused Draco to fumble the key slightly.

Again, the realisation that he was allowing Harry Potter entry, an invited entry no less, into his private living space overcame Draco. He had no idea what he was doing anymore and for some reason the small rush it gave him at the bottom of his stomach almost made him smile; he forgot what life could feel like.

"So ah, this is it," offered Draco as he tried to consider his apartment from someone else's eyes. He supposed it looked small and cheap to Harry who would now most likely be used to a life that Draco had previously lived. Draco tried to compare his current home to one he had apparently grown up in. The small two seater lounge that was position only a metre away from the old TV was incredibly old-fashioned and the springs didn't sit right anymore. Behind the lounge was his two-seater dining setting pressed up against the wall with a scattering of paper on it and a small pot holding a cactus. Then there was his fridge; the small, descript bar fridge where he had set his kettle and toaster atop.

Draco pulled the side as he closed the door behind him, letting Harry completely in his apartment, watching as Harry's eyes flickered around the area.

Draco continued his own surveying, trying to see it through different eyes…

If Draco walked forward, he would eventually hit the kitchen bench, behind which a small stove sat, so that he could at least watch TV while attempting to cook. If he turned around whilst behind the bench, then there was the kitchen sink which he barely ever used due to the fact that he could just take them downstairs in the morning to have them washed. Beside the sink was a door which folded in on itself to reveal a washing machine and dryer; something he had found incredibly difficult to master in his new life.

Harry stepped forward, running his hand along the old lounge, a small smile creeping onto his face. Draco let his eyes drop to the floor, the idea that Harry was laughing at him running through his mind. He knew the place was small and decrepit for the most part, but when Draco opened the window that ran right along the side of it, the sunlight streamed in as if the whole place was just filled with the magic he'd lost.

Draco looked up to find a grinning Harry taking a seat on the lounge.

"I like it," said Harry simply as he flipped the TV on.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Yay! A plot-progressing chapter! Also, again sorry for the late upload, my internet is really having trouble right now but I'll try my best to keep them coming as regularly as possible. Oh, and if you're sitting there speculating WHY the ministry chose this course of action then don't worry, it will be explained. And thankyou for the all the favourites and reviews and people subscribed and whatnot.**

* * *

Draco paused in shock, "You what?" questioned Draco dumbly as Harry swiftly made his way through the TV stations, finally landing among a non-descript dramatic comedy that Draco had sometimes put on after returning from work.

"I like it," clarified Harry, "though the lounge seems a bit more intent on stabbing me then on being necessarily comfortable."

Draco felt as if he should have been offended at the joke, but the smile on Harry's face quieted the idea as Draco walked forward to pull out one of the seats on his table setting, sitting behind Harry as he watched the familiar characters stroll through the scenes.

"It's not very… you know… big or anything," said Draco dully, not quite sure what he was meant to be respond with; her wasn't used to banter about furniture.

"It's got character," replied Harry simply, seeming completely at home in the muggle surroundings, but Draco figured that he would, considering the rumour that Harry had been raised in the muggle world. Draco had never actually figured out the truth about that.

"You were… ah, you were raised in the muggle world, weren't you?" asked Draco, his curiousity burning a little as Harry contentedly watched the TV.

"Yeah, with my Aunt and Uncle, oh and my cousin," stated Harry simply, seeming to pay more attention to the TV program than to the actual conversation that he had apparently wanted.

"Oh…" trailed Draco, his eyes straying around the small apartment as if trying to find an item of conversation.

"So you enjoy this then?" enquired Harry, following Draco's gaze around the living space, again taking in some of the little things that Draco had acquired over the past years.

"Yeah, it's nice enough. I was trying to buy a place further uptown you know, an actual apartment with rooms and all but I wasn't really up to scratch apparently, but I like this little place sometimes. I mean, it looks great when I knock off earlier and I open the blinds just as the sun is setting, it kind of makes everything look like it's on fire, and when I can't sleep I walk down the landing to the door and just sit out there with a cup of tea and watch as people go by. It can be really nice sometimes," said Draco, smiling a little as he considered the many times when he'd found this small place to be the most beautiful thing in the world.

"I can understand that. Living where I do, you don't get much of any of that and it can feel really sterile at times; like nobody actually lives there. Sometimes I even wish I could just leave the world, you know, disappear into somewhere non-descript and escape life for awhile. Just breathe a little; I haven't felt like I could actually breathe for years," replied Harry, taking a small look at Draco over the edge of his shoulder.

"Yeah, I get that, like sometimes I just feel like I can't breathe but then I go outside and sit there and it feels like there's so much life out there, I can't help but absorb some of it. I guess that's why I like the café so much; I can just absorb a bit of everything and everyone that comes in," contemplated Draco, his eyes glazing over as he spoke.

Draco barely felt Harry's intent gaze on his face, but the hairs on the back of his neck stood up none-the-less.

Silence enveloped the two men as Draco considered how far he had come; he was talking to Harry Potter as if he was a long lost friend, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He wondered how it all seemed to Harry, what it must feel like to come to a world like this whilst still living so intrinsically in the wizarding world which no longer existed for him.

Draco sighed, not really sure what to say anymore. There wasn't very many topics that he and Harry could talk about, not now that Draco hadn't been a part of the wizarding world for the better part of ten years.

"Draco… How did you get to New York?" asked Harry; the question had been plaguing him endlessly since he's first found out Draco was in America.

"Pansy Parkinson. She found my mother and I in muggle London. She kept saying how it wasn't safe for us, that we should move as far away from our pasts as possible. To be truthful I'd thought she'd gone completely insane, but mother thought it was a good idea. Pansy never even told us where she was talking us; she never told us anything. Just boom; apparated out of London and into New York. She left without even saying anything, not even telling us where she'd dropped us, but I remember the look in her eyes, as if she knew something bad was coming and wanted to get us out of the way of it. I always knew that look in her eyes…" Draco's words trailed off as he felt the full stare of Harry on him, fully aware of how dishevelled he probably look, Draco subconsciously tried to smooth his hair out.

"She works for the Ministry now, right along with Hermione. They sometimes have dinner together I believe," stated Harry, as if the news that Pansy was alright would soothe the look on Draco's face.

"Anyway, what about you Potter?" questioned Draco, "You obviously became an Auror, probably out there every day rounding up evil wizards or something."

Harry laughed at Draco's assumption which surprised Draco greatly. "Yeah, I'm an Auror," confirmed Harry, "But I don't do much field work anymore, I leave that to Ron mostly. Majority of my time is spent doing paperwork. After Voldemort and everyone involved in the war was rounded up there came practically nothing to do, unless you wanted to chase standard miscreants. Anyway, I don't really enjoy being in the field that much anymore, it just got tiring."

Draco nodded as he listened, "Yeah, I'd say it would, it wouldn't exactly be easy all the time."

Harry shook his head in response to Draco's statement, "Actually it was more of the fanfare. 'The Chosen One snags another miscreant!' kept getting on the front page but…" Harry looked down into his hands as he spoke, "I'm not the 'Chosen One' anymore, not since Voldemort died. I'm just Harry, and I'm just a normal Auror. I'm just me. I don't want to be Harry Potter anymore, hell, I never wanted to be him in the first place, I just kind of was. I wish… I wish I could just escape it all. I'm sick of it. I want life to be simple, you know. I want to find something I love, or someone, and just be happy with that, but there's still expectations on me and I don't know why. I just to be free. I just want out."

Draco stared at Harry, hyper-aware of the all the emotion that was flooding off of him. Instinctively Draco reached out his hand to gently squeeze Harry's shoulder, causing the dark-haired man to smile.

"And…" continued Harry taking a deep breath, "I've never actually told anyone that."

Draco smiled a little, "Maybe no one would have understood it," he replied.

Harry turned his face to Draco's again, "Yeah, I don't think they would've of."


	13. Chapter 13

Harry awoke to a sharp tapping on the window, his clothing still twisted around his body as he rolled over to stare blearily at the noise. A small, rusty coloured owl rapped on the window again, giving Harry the direct impression that it was greatly disgruntled by the fact that the recipient on its letter had yet to attend to it.

Dragging himself up, Harry groaned as he stretched his back out, moving to open the window for the owl. The owl flew close to his face abruptly, giving him a loud 'hoot' as it dropped the letter on the ravaged bed and flew straight back out the way it had come.

Harry plopped himself back onto the bed, rubbing his eyes before picking up the letter, the writing unmistakable as he let out another long groan. Kingsley. Harry had forgotten to write to him again after the short letter he'd sent saying that he'd found Malfoy. Putting his head into his hands he looked over at the clock on the bedside table. It read 10.21 am, causing another long groan from Harry; he wasn't going to make it to the café for breakfast then.

Since their late night chat a few days ago everything felt different to Harry. They talked about all sorts of things. Harry told Draco about his break up with Ginny and Draco told Harry all about the café. It felt normal to Harry, more normal than his life felt in the Wizarding world. The whole experience was becoming surreal in his mind.

Escaping here, even though he was on assignment, had a way of sweeping his mind of the worries that usually weighed him down. He was a nobody here and the refreshing way that everybody acted towards him made him feel alive again, something he hadn't felt for years.

Harry wondered if Draco felt the same way about the experience, or if he was just trying to put off what he knew to be the inevitable. Harry had spilled the beans about the assignment but surprisingly Draco hadn't reacted like Harry had expected to at all. Harry had expected some sort of disdain or anger but Draco had simply shrugged his shoulders, giving Harry the god hones truth: he didn't know where his mother was but he supposed she was dead (Harry kept the news clipping he had tightly tucked away in his back pocket), he didn't plan on producing any type of heir and it didn't really bother him about having his magic stripped or ever returning to that world.

Harry wrote out a quick letter, giving a few brief details, trying to make the assignment seem as hard as possible; Draco was being difficult, unaccepting; anything Harry could think of to prolong his stay here even though Draco had offered to go back with him for the proceed on one condition, he got to return to this world he knew and wouldn't be bothered again. Harry's heart had jumped a little at the last part, wondering if that was really what Draco wanted.

Passing the letter to the owl that was still perched just on the ledge outside Harry yawned, deciding that he might as well have a shower and make his way to the familiar café that he had come to enjoy, just a little bit more than he had expected.

Harry's mind continued to muse along of its own accord as he showered and dressed. There was a taxi cab already waiting out front of the hotel and Harry took advantage of its timeliness, reciting the address that had become imprinted in his memory and watching as the tall buildings trailed past him.

His pondering hadn't left much other room in his mind as he entered the café, getting a small grin from Angie who was now very used to his presence. Harry looked down at his watch, now aware of the fact that he had arrived just in time for Draco's mid-morning break.

"I can take you out back for your coffee if you like, I think Drake's grabbing something to eat," remarked Angie, obviously knowing what would be coming out of Harry's mouth before he did.

Harry had never been invited through that back door before, at least, not in the manner of having to go through the whole back section of the café. Harry nodded as another yawn escaped him causing a small snicker from Angie as she led him through the cooking area.

Harry immediately felt self-conscious as the two sets of eyes from the twins followed him, both of them wearing the same knowing smile that Angie had greeted him with. Harry hadn't the nerve to greet them by name as it was only by Draco's description that he knew them.

No one else seemed phased by Harry's arrival to the back sitting area, in fact Draco's boss, who Harry knew to be Jake, even waved as greeting from the small office that could have double for a cupboard.

"Drake, Harry's here," stated Angie, "And Jules, get your butt out here before the brunch rush starts please. Where's Fiona?" asked Angie was Jules stubbed out the last of her cigarette.

"Fiona has suddenly come down with some form of sickness, I'm going to call it the Maria-flu," answered back Jules cheekily, giving a wink to Draco who was already giving a short smile to Harry as he cupped his coffee.

Angie sighed as she turned around briskly, strutting back into the café, leaving Harry alone with Draco and feeling a little out of place.

"So you finally decided to show up?" remarked Draco cheekily, "I thought you might have shot-through."

Harry raised an eyebrow at the term, not entirely sure what it was meant to mean causing Draco to further explain himself.

"I thought you might have left," he stated simply before rolling his eyes, giving a brief wave of his hand to the seat opposite him where Jukes had resided just moments before. Draco took a big bite out of a lamington and another sip of his coffee as Harry took to the wobbly chair.

"Just slept in, forget to reset the alarm. Apparently the hotel turns all alarms off after a week of the being set, you know, just in case someone who was staying there left and forget to turn the alarm off," replied Harry as he reached over and grabbed a corner piece off of the lamington that Draco had half in his mouth.

Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry's actions, reminding Harry instantly of the boy he used to know.

"You know Potter," said Draco between mouthfuls, "Just because you're 'the Chosen One' doesn't mean you can help yourself to my food."

Harry shrugged, "I'm not 'the Chosen One' here, I'm just Harry and I say that I can help myself to your food," he remarked back.

"So what book have you brought with you today Potter?" questioned Draco, doing a quick look-around of Harry's person trying to locate some form of literary material.

The realisation dawned on Harry that he had in fact brought nothing to read, the idea seeming to bring a blush to his cheeks though he was unsure as to why. "I didn't seem to bring anything," replied Harry, "And could you not call me Potter anymore? We left school a long time ago."

Draco sighed, taking the last big gulp of his coffee, "Fine, so what's going to be your excuse to sit around the café I would at all day now Harry?" implored Draco, the old cockiness of his youth lacing his voice.

The blush Harry had just recently fought down rose to his cheeks again as he finally understood the implication of what was obviously being stated with the staff at the café.

"I have no bloody idea," replied Harry shortly, causing a loud laugh to escape Draco.


	14. Chapter 14

Draco yawned as he slowly stacked the now empty coffee mugs, dragging his feet as Jules took them out of his hands with a weary smile. The day had been longer than he had anticipated it to be. Parades had filled the street and small art stalls opened up all along sidewalk, the people baring their trade to anyone who was interested.

This season was always the same. It was Spring and that meant lots of parades, festivals and all-round lively festivities; it was meant Draco barely had any time to breath as he found himself working three 16 hour days in a row. Harry had already left for the night, shooting Draco small smiles throughout the day and evening as Draco scowled over and over again at the never-ending influx of customers.

Sighing Draco pushed himself against the wall and let the cool of the bricks relieve some of the none-too-comfortable warmth that was burning along his tired muscles. The soft ticking of the clock above his head was welcoming, causing a small smile as he awkwardly turned his head upward. It was 11.30pm and all he wanted right now was to sleep.

"Drake," said Angie, interrupting Draco's thoughts as he turned to look across to her. Draco noted that she looked more exhausted than him even, something that he considered difficult to do at that moment. "Harry's back," offered Angie when Draco made no reply, "And the front is all locked up too."

Angie walked past him, heading off for the night out the back door as the twins, Jules and Jake finished cleaning up the back.

"Hey," said Harry, coming to lean beside Draco, looking over at the tired blonde man.

"I thought you'd left already," stated Draco, barely having enough energy to look over at Harry as Harry's eyes traced the slow movement of the four people as they checked, double-checked and even triple-checked that everything had been completely, though Harry was unsure if anything was actually registering further than their eyes.

"I decided to try out the festivities," stated Harry, giving Draco a small grin, "And shouldn't you be helping?"

Draco's eyes looked around, "Yeah I should be," he replied with a shrug as another yawn escaped him.

"Hey Harry," called out Jake as the twins and Jules shuffled around the kitchen tiredly, "Get our Drake up to bed would ya, I need to get these floors done and I don't fancy leaving a Drake-shaped dirt-patch on it."

"Very funny!" mocked Draco as Harry laughed, receiving a small wink from Jake.

"Well yes sir, I'll make sure he gets all tucked in as well," teased Harry, watching Draco's top lip curl but Harry knew that Draco was too tired to actually do anything more than that so he grabbed the blonde man's arm and began walking him to the door.

"Good job Harry, I knew we kept you around for reason! Oh and Drake, don't bother coming in until noon, I don't need zombies scaring the patrons away," joked Jake, letting out a chortle as Harry pushed open the door and pulled Draco through it.

Draco was mouthing words under his breath obviously not enjoying the camaraderie that Jake and Harry had so easily taken to.

"You don't actually have to take me up you know, I'm quite capable," pouted Draco, reminding Harry of the boy he used to know.

"I never would've guessed that," retorted Harry playfully giving Draco a small shove as they ascended the stairs.

Draco curled his lip again but didn't bother replying to the comment; instead he focused whatever remained of his concentration and energy on getting the key into the lock appropriately. Thankfully it only took one try, letting out a deep sigh Draco strolled into his apartment and fell onto one of the dining chairs as Harry, yet again, threw himself onto the old lounge.

"You get a sleep in tomorrow," remarked Harry shortly, as if that was the only conversation they needed before he switched on the TV.

"I guess you can't go there at nine o'clock like you usually do just to watch me," teased Draco tiredly, not sure whether the teasing he was engaged in was flirtatious or simply friendly. It was the same problem that had been plaguing him ever since Harry and his first real conversation.

"I guess not," replied Harry, seemingly unfazed by the idea.

Draco was just about to doze off with his head on the table when Harry spoke again. "You know, we could go and do brunch somewhere? Angie mentioned there was a bakery that you quite liked around the area."

Draco paused, cursing Angie a little bit. Draco felt as though he could give a negative response, he wasn't sure why, but he was sure it had something to do with the odd niggling feeling that sat at the pit of his stomach; just the way some things didn't add up in his head. Harry Potter had come to take him back, but instead of taking Draco up on his offer to get it done quickly Harry had decided to hang around a little longer, stating that he needed a holiday, but that wasn't the part of it all that irked at Draco most of all. What had gotten under his skin was the fact that Harry, although hearing the small pieces of discussion that alluded to the fact that all the other staff and the cafe thought him and Draco an item, was still sticking around like glue and in fact, he seemed to quietly enjoy being part of a speculation that didn't revolve around something from his past.

A few minutes passed before Draco realised that he hadn't responded. Clearing his throat he paused again, Harry having turned around waiting for a response now.

"I guess not then," stated Harry shrugging.

Draco's mouth hung open slightly before the words that he hadn't even considered saying came floundering out of his mouth. "Sure, why not. It is a nice place, a lot gayer than the cafe though."

Draco wasn't sure why he had added the last part, maybe to try and get a reaction out of Harry but even that didn't stem the other man's plans, in fact, it seemed to perk them up slightly.

"That'll be interesting. You know I never had any inclining that you were... you know, gay," said Harry, again turning his attention to the TV.

"I ahh..." Draco paused, to be truthful to himself he didn't know what we was. He hadn't ever really felt any true affection for anyone, at least anything more than friend and family affection.

Harry turned around again sighing with a small smile, "Maybe we can just chat tomorrow? You don't seem to be able to make many coherent sentences currently."

Draco nodded and pushed himself out of the chair heading for the bedroom. He didn't even bother to think about what Harry would be doing, part of him wondered if Harry would just stay, fall asleep on the lounge or something but only a few seconds after Draco had thrown himself down onto the bed did he hear the old door creak, slam and click into place.

_I'm having brunch tomorrow, with Harry Potter, _thought Draco, the absurdity of the situation striking him again, as it often did at random times during the past few days.

_If only the Wizarding world could see their Chosen One now..._


	15. Chapter 15

Harry was up and ready early that morning, something that he had been finding inexplicably hard to do since coming on the assignment. Relaxing was just far too easy here and he was even finding himself enjoying Draco's company, which had surprised more than anything else. Harry pursed his lips, as he again contemplated the news clipping that he had been carrying around in his back pocket for the past few days.

Harry knew he was being selfish if the news clipping was actually about Narcissa, but another part of him was worried about the fact that if it wasn't, he might be unnecessarily hurting Draco in the process of showing it to him.

Of all the information Harry had been able to collect, it did point fairly clearly to this woman who was laying in intensive care in a hospital somewhere, was Draco's mother. Harry wondered how Draco might not have seen it considering Harry had seen him read the paper more than once and he had appeared to be diligently taking in the information.

Pausing for one last time Harry decided that today was not today and put the news clipping back down onto the nightstand before grabbing his jacket and a couple of twenty dollar notes off of the counter.

Since becoming a regular at the café Harry found the items he was buying were slowly lowering in price. He put this mostly down to Draco but he caught Angie more than once playing along to the decrease at the end of the bill. Harry considered what Draco meant with the action but he wasn't so sure if he wanted to ask the blonde man about it considering they weren't really that close, they had only had a few actual conversations that included more than five exchanges.

Ruffling his hair Harry took to the elevator, pressing the Foyer button and watching himself in the mirror. Since coming to New York he had actually gained a lot of his colour back. His eyes weren't quite so bruised and shallow and there even seemed to be a dull yet lively tinge to his cheeks, something that the Ministry had weaned out of him slowly yet surely over the years. Harry absently wondered what Draco thought of his appearance, but the thought was soon stopped short in its tracks.

_What does it matter what Draco thinks of my appearance?_ Questioned Harry of himself as the doors finally opened. Taking a brief glance at his watch he wondered if Draco would even be awake. They hadn't exactly set a time so Harry had planned to go to his place around nine o'clock, assuming that consistency was probably best with Draco.

Harry soon found he was right because just as the taxi cab weaved through the last of the traffic and came to a standstill outside the café Harry caught sight of the blonde in his usual attire, sitting at the open door that led from his small apartment out onto the street.

Harry quickly paid the taxi cab driver as the man murmured under his breath disgruntledly. Harry had obviously annoyed him by asking to be escorted to what appeared to be the liveliest part of town. It had taken an extra twenty minutes than it usually did to weave through the stalls and stages and people who were obviously gathering for another parade. The fanfare on the streets was exhilarating, but even as Harry took in all the sights, the one that made him smile most was when Draco looked up at him.

Harry considered the blonde man, the man who was so far from the boy he had once known. Draco sat on a doorstep, sipping a cup of tea out of a cheap mug as people swarmed past patterned in rainbows and cheering loudly. Draco would smile at the people as they cheered past, even waving to a few who noticed him in his own quiet reprieve. It felt humbling to Harry; just the way that Draco now interacted with a world that Harry had assumed would surely kill him.

Harry took a seat on the step next to Draco as the blonde man downed the last of his tea. Harry expected some kind of reaction, maybe not a real smile, something to mark that the blonde man was acknowledging him sitting beside him.

"There were inspectors that came to the Café this morning," stated Draco wearily, doing what Harry supposed was his best attempt at a smile so far.

Harry raised his eyebrows at the statement, wondering what on earth it had to do with the brunch they were going to be having, unless of course the café was in some sort of trouble and Draco had to go to work earlier than planned.

"They had a photograph of a woman. They asked if anyone at the Café knew her as they'd found one of the old match sets that the Café used to sell in her pockets after picking her up off the side of the road. She's in intensive care right now they said; beaten almost to the point of death."

Harry listened, his mouth gaping slightly as Draco spoke. He spoke with little to no emotion, perhaps in shock, or perhaps he hadn't seen the photograph of the woman and hadn't identified her as Harry was sure he would have if he had seen the photograph.

"Angie said the woman looked like me," continued Draco, unfazed by Harry's lack of input into the conversation, "So Jake called me to come down and have a look. I'd assumed she was already dead."

"I'm so sorry Draco," started Harry, unable to finish a comprehensible sentence after all Harry had decided not to tell Draco multiple times since seeing the first news report and now that the authorities had handled that small issue for him he felt an immense wave of guilt wash over him.

"Jake gave me a few days off. I told him not to. I don't know what to do, I've already mourned her, and I'd already lost her. I don't know how I'm meant to feel Harry." Draco grew quiet, the small unnervingly even tone breaking slightly at the end. Draco's face was turned away from Harry's own but as a small piece of sunlight filtered through the high buildings it caught the edge of the small droplet of water that slipped down Draco's right cheek.

It took a few minutes of silence before either of them could look at each other, but the fact that Draco had finally called Harry by his first name didn't pass him by either. Sitting at the edge of the sidewalk, next to Draco Malfoy, in amongst all of the outrageous and ostentatious fanfare suddenly felt surreal.

Harry didn't know what to say, didn't know what to feel. It was at that moment that Harry felt like the most useless person on the planet. He wasn't sure if he had grown to think of this new Draco Malfoy as a friend, but he didn't want to see him in pain, even if he refused to show it.

"Maybe the first step isn't to feel, maybe it's just to see," stated Harry, remembering the words that Hermione had given to him the first few days after the war.

"I'm not going alone," stated Draco, some of the fire that Harry remembered of the man returning for a moment as he turned to face Harry, his eyes burning in a way that Harry had never remembered them burning before.

"Well then, we better get going," stated Harry, standing up and reaching his hand down to pull the blonde man to his feet.


End file.
